How to automatically switch Keyboard to match Text Language in Word, PowerPoint, Publisher

You can type in various languages in Word, PowerPoint, and Publisher. These apps do not switch the keyboard if you try to edit a foreign language word. If you want to automatically switch the keyboard to match text language in Word, PowerPoint, and Publisher, this guide is for you. You can enable or disable this setting using the Options panel, Local Group Policy Editor, and Registry Editor. However, only Publisher allows users to use the GPEDIT and REGEDIT methods.

Automatically switch Keyboard to match Text Language in Word & PowerPoint

To automatically switch keyboard to match text language in Word and PowerPoint, follow these steps:

1. Open Microsoft Word or PowerPoint.
2. Click on the Options.
3. Switch to the Advanced tab.
4. Tick the Automatically switch keyboard to match language of surrounding text checkbox.
5. Click the OK button.

To know more about these steps, keep reading.

First, you need to open Microsoft Word or PowerPoint on your computer. Then, click on the Options visible in the bottom-left corner to open the Word/PowerPoint Options panel.

Next, switch to the Advanced tab and tick the Automatically switch keyboard to match language of surrounding text checkbox.

Finally, click the OK button to save the change.

As said earlier, you can enable or disable this setting in Publisher using Local Group Policy Editor and Registry Editor. Therefore, if you use Publisher, you can continue following these two methods.

Automatically switch Keyboard to match Text Language in Publisher

To automatically switch keyboard to match text language in Publisher using Group Policy, follow these steps:

1. Press Win+R > type gpedit.msc > hit the Enter button.
2. Go to Advanced in User Configuration.
3. Double-click on the Automatically switch keyboard to match language of surrounding text setting.
4. Choose the Enabled option to enable.
5. Choose the Disabled option to disable.
6. Click the OK button.

Let’s find out more about these steps.

To get started, you need to press Win+R to open the Run prompt, type gpedit.msc, and hit the Enter button. Then, navigate to this path:

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Publisher 2016 > Publisher Options > Advanced

Double-click on the Automatically switch keyboard to match language of surrounding text setting and choose the Enabled option to enable and the Disabled option to disable.

Finally, click the OK button to save the change.

Note: If you want to set the factory default, open the same setting in the Local Group Policy Editor, and choose the Not Configured option. Alternatively, you can also choose the Disabled option. Finally, you need to restart the Publisher app to get the corresponding change.

Automatically switch keyboard to match text language in Publisher using Registry

To automatically switch keyboard to match text language in Publisher using Registry, follow these steps:

1. Search for regedit and click the search result.
2. Click the Yes button in the UAC prompt.
3. Go to Microsoft\office\16.0 in HKCU.
4. Right-click on 0 > New > Key and set the name as publisher.
5. Right-click on publisher > New > Key and name it as preferences.
6. Right-click on preferences > New > StringValue.
7. Call it autokeybd.
8. Double-click on it to set the value data as 1.
9. Click the OK button and restart your PC.

To find out more about these steps, continue reading.

First, search for regedit, click on the search result, and click the Yes button to open the Registry Editor on your computer.

Then, navigate to this path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\office\16.0

If you cannot find 16.0, you need to create those sub-keys manually. For that, right-click on Microsoft > New > Key and name it as office. Then, do the same to create the 16.0 key.

Right-click on 16.0 > New > Key and name it as publisher. Following that, repeat the same steps to create a sub-key named preferences.

Next, right-click on preferences > New > String Value and set the name as autokeybd.

Then, double-click on it to set the Value data as 1 and click the OK button.

At last, close all windows and restart your computer to get the change.

Note: If you want to revert to the original setting, you have two options. First, you can set the Value data as 0. Second, you can delete this String Value. For that, right-click on it, select the Delete option and click the Yes button.

Read: How to add or remove Keyboard layout in Windows

Why do keyboards switch languages automatically?

Windows 11/10 may switch the language accidentally if you use the predefined keyboard shortcut. If you press Left Alt+Shift together, it opens the language selection panel on the Taskbar and switches to another language. Following that, if you press the Enter button, it selects the language automatically. However, if it happens in Word or PowerPoint, you need to disable the setting mentioned above.

How do I automatically change language?

If you use Word or PowerPoint and you want to change language automatically, you can go through the steps mentioned above. However, you must add the language first to your system. Otherwise, this guide won’t work for any Office app.

How do I translate a PowerPoint with Google Translate?

You can use the Google Translate upload feature to translate any PowerPoint file. The tool allows you to upload the files to Google, using source and destination language to complete the process. The service supports .docx, .pdf, .pptx, or .xlsx.

Does PowerPoint have a Translator?

Microsoft PowerPoint natively supports translation allowing anyone to translate a presentation, and offers subtitles that can be used by the viewers while watching the presentation. You can also use the Presentation Translator, which helps translate any presentation on-demand.

I hope it helped.

Read: Fix Windows keyboard language changes on its own in Windows.